


When You Wake

by spanglecap



Series: Prompt Fills & Drabbles [6]
Category: Avenger - Fandom, Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Cuddles, Established Relationship, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Natasha Romanov Feels, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-25
Updated: 2016-02-25
Packaged: 2018-05-23 06:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6107887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spanglecap/pseuds/spanglecap
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha's always had nightmares. But this one is different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When You Wake

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I have been so awful at updating lately. 2016 is really shit amirite???

She wakes up cold, gasping for breath. Heart hammering in her chest, Natasha scrambles for purchase, clutching at the sheets tightly.

Being shocked into consciousness by a nightmare isn’t unusual for her. It isn’t unusual for Steve to wake with her – he’s an _incredibly_ light sleeper – and ask if she’s alright, instantly alert and shaking off any lingering drowsiness.

“Nightmare,” she gasps, trying to catch her breath. She knows he understands. He gets them too. The nauseating images that had woken her stick in her mind, like a film reel only she can see. Her own private horror show.

“Do you need me to go?”

He’s already half sitting up, pushing the covers back and swinging his leg out of the bed.

It also isn’t unusual for Steve to offer Natasha some space afterwards. He’ll go and sleep on the couch, because sometimes she can’t even have him look at her when she’s like this without feeling as if she’s suffocating. She’s even lashed out at him a few times before now, violent, still caught up in the throes of whatever horror had gripped her mind in slumber. This way, there’s no chance of that. No chance of her saying something she’ll regret later out of fear or – god forbid – end up breaking down in front of him. Natasha had promised herself decades ago that no one would ever witness that, and after particularly bad nightmares she needs time to build up her defences again.

Steve hauls himself up, but something makes her stop him.

“Wait,” she says, sitting up. She swallows thickly, throat feeling tight. “I…I want you to stay.”

One thing that is definitely _not_ usual about any of this is the dream that had woken her.

Natasha Romanoff has an absolute multitude of things to keep her awake at night. The Red Room. Her childhood there. Her missions before S.H.I.E.L.D. The atrocities she’s seen by others, and the ones she’s committed herself. Horrors only comprehensible to those who have lived through them. Usually, she can cope by herself, even though it probably isn’t the healthiest of coping mechanisms.

But none of those scenarios are the ones that linger in her mind. She can still see it as clear as day. Steve Rogers, covered in blood and paler than Russian snow. And she can’t cope alone this time.

“Well I’m not gonna argue about that,” Steve says with a grin, climbing back into bed.

Natasha tries to focus on the warmth that seeps from his body into hers, limbs tangled together. His heartbeat is strong and steady under her ear. The scent of him, which usually sends her dizzy with want is overwhelmingly comforting. It’s almost silent, save for the sound of his slow inhalations, and he waits until her own breathing is back to normal before speaking again.

“Want to talk about it?” he asks gently. Natasha pauses, unsure how to answer.

“I was…alone,” she settles on. It’s the closest thing to the truth. Steve’s clever enough to guess she isn’t going to share much more than that, and doesn’t press her to elaborate. Swallowing, she tries again. “You were…” The words choke themselves off. She feels nauseous again.

 _You were dead. You wouldn’t wake up. I was alone. There was so much blood, I could_ taste _it-_

“You’re not alone,” he reassures, holding her a little tighter. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she replies weakly, burying her face in his chest. Deep down, they both know she’s right. Steve ignores it.

“Ever the optimist, I see,” he says dryly. She kicks him. But only a little.

Natasha doesn’t know how much time passes as they lay there in silence, with her trying to forget.

“I love you,” Steve murmurs in the quiet.

“I know,” she replies.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what this is I'm sorry *retreats back into cave*


End file.
